Week 5: Unplugging, a Straightish Arrow, and 35 year-old phone numbers

I’m plugging away over here on my 22 in 22. Here are a few highlights:

#12 Set Aside Unplugged Hours

There is not much I can’t do without an earbud in one ear. I mean, I have been known to read Darkwing Duck comic books aloud to my gents while listening to podcasts.

Should I do this? No. No, I should not. I know that I shouldn’t. But there have been times when my brain cannot fathom the thought of sitting down on a couch and reading a comic book aloud. It feels like the dumbest, most ridiculous, most unproductive thing I could possibly do. So…might as well make myself less stupid while I read, right?

I decided, as an introduction to unplugging, to stop doing that. It’s a small thing, I know. I wish that I could find Darkwing Duck interesting. Or reading about motorcycles. Or Star Wars.

In addition, I had the pleasant experience of discovering, by accident, that certain kinds of work, the work that require deep thought and physical engagement are naturally moments of being unplugged. (Does this sound obvious? I probably is.) But, when I am finished doing those things, I always feel so unbelievably good. This, as opposed to how I feel when I have just checked my email for the tenth time in three hours or waiting for that Dopamine hit to come.

Part of what feels so good, part, but obviously, not all, is that I was unplugged.

Tiny progress in this area remains progress, and I am grateful for it.

#16 Improve my posture

So I ended up buying this weird little holster device that claimed to help improve posture. I’m going to write about it in the future, after I’ve given it so more practice.

But let’s just say that, in addition to the mental hurdles to having good posture, there are also the actual physical hurdles. Like, it’s so darn uncomfortable!

So this little device is here to help A. Encourage good posture by maintaining it artificially B. Be so physically uncomfortable that you remember to stand/sit up straight when you start to slouch…so that good posture is actually more comfortable than bad! (That is not on their selling points, but it is my testimonial.)

Stringing together more moments of good posture helps normalize it in my mind, and consequently, in my body. It’s a process, like anything else. It’s something we have to learn to do, like riding a bike or running a marathon.

#22 Learn Something Fascinating about Psychology

I’m not sure that this is really about psychology as much as it is about brain science, but I learned that the easier it is to access information, the harder it becomes for us to learn it.

In my daily peri-menopausal fog, I find this to be provably true. For example: I have two-factor authentication for my Apple account. So when I go to upload a podcast or check stats on my computer (not Apple) I have to log-in through my tablet. (BTW, I hate this and anyone who knows how to make it stop, please, let me know.)

To do this, I have to enter a 6-digit code that my tablet gives me, so that I can enter it on my computer. So annoying.

Anywhoo… I get into a panic when I have to enter the 6-digit code. I always think to my self, “I hope I can remember this.” This coming from the person who still remembers phone numbers for people I haven’t spoken to in 35 years.

It’s true that I don’t know my husband’s cell number. I hardly know my own. That’s what the little phone book icon on my phone is for, right?

I am developing all kinds of theories, though, about just how important it is to not just be able to retain a stupid 6-digit number, but also how I need to be certain to use that long-term memory function of my brain, or risk, if not of actually losing it, of living in fear that I will or am losing it. The fear of losing it might be a more potent impetus for working on this than any other reason.

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